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Planarian flatworms now a model system for studying eye development and eye diseases

Planarian flatworms have come under intense study for their renowned ability to regenerate any missing body part, even as adults. But now they may take on a starring role as a model system for studying eye development and eye diseases in vertebrates, including humans.

3 Aug 2012

Missouri Supreme Court strikes down cap on medical malpractice damages

Missouri's Supreme Court has ruled that a 20-year-old, $350,000 cap on noneconomic medical malpractice damages -- pain and suffering -- takes away a citizen's right to trial by jury and is unconstitutional.

3 Aug 2012

Study investigates standard practices for insertion and management of urinary catheters

A major international study led by University of Adelaide researchers aims to prevent death and serious illness caused by one of the most common infections contracted by patients in hospitals.

3 Aug 2012

Group Health, Providence Health Care team up in Pacific Northwest

The Group Health Cooperative and Providence Health Care are joining forces in a new limited liability corporation with the goal of providing more efficient health services.

3 Aug 2012

Experts offer disparate views on controlling health care costs

Dueling articles in the New England Journal of Medicine Wednesday propose sharply different ways to curb medical spending. The proposals offer a glimpse of the rival approaches that could emerge in 2013, when Congress will have to tackle the budget deficit and the future of the Medicare program for the elderly and disabled.

3 Aug 2012

Strawberry extract protects against UVA rays

An experiment has shown that strawberry extract added to skin cell cultures acts as a protector against ultraviolet radiation as well as increasing its viability and reducing damage to DNA. Developed by a team of Italian and Spanish researchers, the study opens the door to the creation of photoprotective cream made from strawberries.

3 Aug 2012

Romney's record on health care examined

News outlets look at presumptive GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney's style and positions on health care before and after he was governor of Massachusetts.

3 Aug 2012

Sta Op Tegen Kanker International Translational Cancer Research Grant recipients announced

Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) and the Dutch Cancer Society (KWF Kankerbestrijding), along with the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), SU2C's Scientific Partner, announce the recipients of the Sta Op Tegen Kanker International Translational Cancer Research Grant.

3 Aug 2012

Longer looks: Mississippi learns from Iran's health care system

Sabrina Seeling seemed too young to die. ... One night she stayed up all night translating a Latin text into English for a college paper. ... During the all-nighter, Ms. Seelig took Ephedra, a stimulant diet drug that had been banned by the Food and Drug Administration three years earlier, and had a few beers. ... When she felt sick, she called Poison Control for help, and spoke very clearly, a recording of the call shows.

3 Aug 2012

Clinicians need to discuss disorders of consciousness with ethical sensitivity

New tools have confirmed high rates of misdiagnosis of patients with chronic disorders of consciousness, such as the vegetative state. An increasing number of patients' families wish to use these novel techniques for diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment.

3 Aug 2012

Nigerian nursing, midwifery college seeks to train local health care workers

BBC News reports on a $15 million college in northern Nigeria's Jigawa state that is working to train nurses and midwives.

3 Aug 2012

Goals of curtailing sales of tobacco to underage youth continue to be met

A new report on the Synar Amendment program - a federal and state partnership aimed at ending illegal tobacco sales to minors—shows that all the states and the District of Columbia have continued to meet their goals of curtailing sales of tobacco to underage youth (those under 18). The report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), which sponsors the Synar program, shows that the average national retailer violation rate of tobacco sales is down to 8.5 percent, the lowest level in the history of the program.

3 Aug 2012

Investment in health systems 'a critical prerequisite' in beginning to end AIDS

The XIX International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2012) that took place last week in Washington, D.C., "ignited momentum to shift from 'fighting AIDS' to 'ending AIDS,'" Mohga Kamal-Yanni, senior health adviser at Oxfam International, and Urvarshi Rajcoomer, policy and advocacy adviser at Oxfam in South Africa, write in a Mail & Guardian opinion piece.

3 Aug 2012

Depression in kidney cancer patients associated with survival and inflammatory gene regulation

Research from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center has found that symptoms of depression in patients with newly diagnosed metastatic kidney cancer are associated with survival and inflammatory gene regulation may explain this link.

3 Aug 2012

U.S. appeals court blocks Arizona's 20-week abortion ban

A federal appeals court on Wednesday blocked an Arizona law banning abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy as it considers the case. The law was upheld by a trial judge Monday and was set to take effect Thursday.

3 Aug 2012

Exposure to mold during infancy linked to asthma development during childhood

In the United States, one in 10 children suffers from asthma but the potential environmental factors contributing to the disease are not well known. Cincinnati-based researchers now report new evidence that exposure to three types of mold during infancy may have a direct link to asthma development during childhood.

3 Aug 2012

Super-bug technology draws high-tech attention

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has said 2012 will be the year that hospitals should start paying to treat infections contracted on their premises. Many investors have the issue pegged as a janitorial concern, and not necessarily the purview of high-tech gadgets.

3 Aug 2012

Advice to stay active promotes recovery in patients with low back pain

For workers on medical leave because of low back pain, giving advice to stay active increases the chances of returning to work, reports a study in the August 1 issue of Spine.

3 Aug 2012

Examining the role of economists in global health

In this post in the Center for Global Development's (CGD) "Global Health Policy" blog, Amanda Glassman, director of global health policy and a research fellow at the center, reports on the contribution of economists to the global health field, writing, "Economists are not global health's most popular human resource.

3 Aug 2012

Survey results of adoption and implementation of therapeutic hypothermia in hospitals

National guidelines recommend the use of therapeutic hypothermia to improve outcomes in patients who suffer a heart attack outside of a hospital. The results of a survey of all 73 acute care hospitals in New Jersey evaluating the adoption and implementation of this life-saving treatment from 2004-2011 is published in Therapeutic Hypothermia and Temperature Management, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers.

3 Aug 2012